Trapped
by xander1girl
Summary: After heading out on a hunt alone, Jo finds herself trapped and held prisoner by a psychopath. With Dean, Sam and her mother searching to find her, Jo must maintain her grip on reality as it all begins to fall apart around her.
1. Chapter 1

Every time the doors to the roadhouse would open, Jo Harvelle's heart would skip a beat, and her head would turn no matter where she happened to be standing. She wasn't sure if her mother had noticed this trend, especially the large growth it had in the last few months, but at this point she was beyond the point of caring. All that mattered to her was the who that entered, or more specifically the man. She wasn't even sure when it had started or what had set it off, all she did know was it started the same every time.

The old creaky wooden doors of the bar would open and he would walk in, fresh off a hunt, or stopping by for information the reason was the only thing that ever changed. He would walk in, smile at her, give her a small nod and say "Jo." Just the sound of her name on his lips would give him chills but she played it cool, smiled back and answered with his own name "Dean." Lingering on his face for a few moments, his name rolling off her lips and lingering there like it was where they belonged before adding his brother and hunting companion, to seem less suspicious. "Sam."

Sam would smile and nod back politely and then wonder off in search of her mother or Ash but Dean would always walk over to the bar and order a drink, pretend to make small talk with the other hunters who would come to the bar to rest between hunts or drink away their problems, practically ignoring her without actually doing so –his own little misdirection-

This would go on for a few hours before they would close up, the hunters would leave and having what they needed, so would Sam and Dean with another of his breathtaking smiles and another nod in her direction, along with a small slip of paper being slid under a bar napkin. She would wait until they were long gone, and when her mother was not looking to collect the paper and slip it into her jeans. Then once her mother had fallen asleep, Jo would slip out of the roadhouse and into the night, glancing at the paper for the directions to the hotel Sam and Dean were staying in nearby and she would be off.

He was always waiting out front when she pulled up, leaning against a small fence outside his room and glancing into the dark for any sign of her arrival. Once she pulled up as quietly as she could as not to disturb the sleeping Sam, he would bound for the car, slipping in beside her as she killed the engine and without a word he would lean over and kiss her, a kiss so sweet and so passionate that her entire body would tingle just in anticipation. They would spend almost the entire night there, at first it was just talking, holding one another and more of those sweet tingly kisses, but eventually it led to more. Jo had never felt more at peace, more safe and secure than she did lying in that back seat, his arms and a dirty old blanket wrapped around her.

The part at the end, where he would whisper softly in her ear that she should get back before her mother noticed she was gone would kill her a little inside every time but as they would quickly redress and meet outside the car for one last sweet tingly goodbye kiss, she would know it would not be the last time she would see him. He promised her he would be back to see her again soon, that the hunt he and Sam were heading out to in the morning would be a quick easy job and then he would be back for her. As she pulled away, she would glance into the rearview mirror to see him standing there, sadness in his eyes as he watched her go.

There was a blinding flash, and for a minute Jo would worry about crashing the car but it always ended the same too. The car would fade away and she would open her eyes and find herself in a dirty, rundown room with no windows or anything on the walls, she would hear an evil maniacal laugh, and the face of her tormentor would come to view. He would grin that sickening grin down at her and order her to be returned with the others. Unable to move or speak, Jo would be lifted from the table and dragged down a dark hallway, tears spilling down her cheeks now as she was thrown into a small black room with only a tiny barred window for the moonlight to peek though. She would land on the cold stone floor and sob, wondering how she had come to this, how she had gotten herself stuck in this place –her own private hell- reliving the greatest moment she could ever imagine over and over while that…thing fed off it.

She would stare blankly at that tiny little window, at the stars shining in the black and blue sky and wonder where he was and if he ever thought of her in his travels. She used to wonder if he was looking for her, used to think about him charging in and rescuing her from all of this, but quickly learned the impossibility of that scenario. There was no finding, no rescuing not from this place she was stuck. Remote area no main roads or any indication this building even existed. She hadn't told anyone, not even her mother, where she had been going.

This was where her story would end, no one could change that not even Dean Winchester.


	2. Chapter 2

"How long has she been gone?" Dean Winchester's voice boomed through the phone a hint of anger boiling up inside.

"Almost a month." Came a quiet, level, almost shamed answer from fellow hunter Bobby singer on the other end of the phone.

"And why are we just hearing about this now?" he demands "We coulda been out there looking for her instead of sitting around here with our fingers up our asses!" The anger was out in full force now; Dean could not believe that Bobby had kept this from them. Jo Harvelle, was missing, and despite some tough spots and bad blood, her and her mother were like family to both him and Sam, just like he thought Bobby was too except now he was having his doubts.

"You know how Ellen is, she didn't want you guys involved, said she could do it herself." Came the reply, in the same even calm tone. How he could be calm at this moment, Dean did not know.

"And what's changed now?" Dean demands "It took her a month realize how stupid it is to charge off by yourself with no leads?"

"She's not askin' right now boy." Bobby answered "I am, and you'd better just watch your tongue and show some respect. This is her daughter we are talkin' about, the only blood she's got left you can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if this were Sam."

He had Dean there, as the eldest Winchester glanced over at his brother he knew he would move heaven and earth to find him if anything ever happened to him and he would probably be too damn stubborn to accept any help. "All right whatever." Dean says, coming out of his own head to get back on point. "What can you tell us? What do we know?"

Bobby didn't know much, only that she was last seen in Wisconsin. She had kept everything a secret even from her mother, no one knew what her lead was, or even remotely what kind of monster she was after. Apparently Ellen had to practically beat the Wisconsin lead out of a few townies so whatever the job, Dean knew it had to have been something important to Jo, why else would she be so secretive?

Not long later the boys were on the road, Dean's foot on the accelerator pushing his baby girl as fast as she could possibly go.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asks from the passenger seat beside Dean, breaking the silence he had been keeping since the phone call from Bobby.

Dean inhaled sharply "We head into town." He replies "Question the locals, try to get us some leads."

"Don't you think Ellen has already been there done that?" Sam replies

Dean glances over at his brother with an icy glare. "So we do it again." He replies "Maybe we can dig up something she missed."

"Or we could try to find Ellen, see if she's found out anything useful save us some time and wasted effort." Sam suggests

"Yeah fine let's do that then." Dean replies flatly, staring ahead at the road becoming lost in his own thoughts once again. He didn't know why he was obsessing so much over this, it's not like Jo was Sam, someone he was related to by blood or Bobby who he grew up with almost his entire life. If anything Jo was that annoying little cousin type who would randomly pop up and cause problems. The only thing that really tied him to her was the whole Hunter's unite! Thing which even on its good days was shaky….why did this matter so much? Why did he have this deep seeded need to find her, to bring her home safely?

"Dean look out!" Sam's sudden panicked voice drew Dean out of his own thoughts in time to slam on the brakes, barely bumping into a young blond girl who had run out into the road in front of the impala.

"JO!" Dean yells, throwing off his seatbelt and leaving the car engine running as he hops out of the car and rushes to the girl who was now lying face down on the pavement in the middle of the road. He kneels down beside her, turning her so she would be facing him and lets out a deep breath as the girl's features came into view, it wasn't her. Dean's heart rate began to slow to normal once again as the disappointment began to set it. 'Of course it couldn't be that easy.' He scolded himself

Sam kneels down beside him. "Is she all right?" he asks, examining the girl quickly, noticing several bruises and gashes in her skin. "Wow, whatever did this meant business." He holds up an arm for Dean to examine closer.

Dean pretends to be interested, to hide the disappointment in his eyes and his heart, frowning again at the sight of the girl's wounds. "Whatever did this, they were trying to keep this girl around a while." Dean noted.

Sam nodded in agreeance "These are definitely torture wounds, no doubt about that but why would a demon or monster want to torture someone?"

Dean was about to answer –with what he wasn't too sure- when they heard crashing from the bushes nearby. Both the Winchester's heads swiveled, hands reaching for the weapons concealed in jackets and pockets ready to strike anything that way come at them. The crashing noise gets closer and soon a figure emerges from the bushes however, it is not what the boys expected. The boys arms both drop at the sight of the figure, Dean takes another sharp inhale before rising to his feet.

"Ellen." He says, trying not to let the pain and worry creep into his voice.

Ellen Harvelle, Jo's hard, strict and overprotective mother stood before them a shotgun drawn in her hands. "Dean." She answers simply, and then glances down at Sam "Sam." She looks back up to Dean, narrowing her eyes. "Just what do you boys think you are doing with my hostage?"


	3. Chapter 3

A tiny ray of light shone through the small barred window and right into Jo's eyes, awaking her with a start. She sat up quickly, eyes darting around the room ready to put up a fight only to find an empty blank room surrounding her. She exhaled the breath she had been holding in since she had awoken and glanced toward the small window, her heart sinking as the thought of spending another day in her cold stone prison enveloped her. She sighed and lay back down on the cold floor, squeezing her eyes shut hoping that when she opened them her prison would be gone, replaced with her warm soft room back home.

"You're awake." A soft voice sounded from behind her, causing her to jump, and her heart to pound in her chest.

She shot up quickly and spun her body to the sound, which caused her head to also spin and her to fall over.

"Holy shit are you all right?" the now clearly male voice asked. She felt him scoot in close beside her, pulling her half into his lap.

She looked up and there he was. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest, how did he find her? How did he get in here? Tears filled her eyes as thoughts of him taking her out of this place filled her head. He had come for her, just when she had begun to think she would be here forever, Dean Winchester had come to save her.

"Jo are you hurt?" he said, as concern filled his handsome face

She brought a hand up to the side of his face as a small smile played on her face. "I'm all right." She answered softly then leaned up to kiss him softly, a kiss he gratefully returned. However, when she pulled away to ask him how he got past her tormentor and his goons, Dean's handsome face was gone.

Instead of Dean's sharp green eyes, soft blue ones started back at her. Where Dean's chiselled jaw line had been, now held a slightly rounder and less full one. Dean's styled brown hair replaced with matted blond locks. She just sat there, in his arms and stared without blinking as she attempted to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Jo?" he asked again, the concern only worsened in his eyes and facial features.

At the sound of his voice again, it all came rushing back to her. Her heart rate slowed and she let out a breath and blinked. "Charlie." She replied, testing the name, knowing that was who it had been all along. I'm....I'm fine I just..." she shook her head and rose from her position in his lap, sighing as she ran a hand through her own matted and tangled mess of hair. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, staring at the floor.

Charlie was a captive, just like she was. He had only been there a few weeks –or a few of her estimated weeks based on her count of times she had seen sunlight- replacing an older woman who had been there when Jo arrived. They tried to talk when they could, keep each other grounded, keep themselves from giving into the insanity that had taken over the others who had been in here before them. This hadn't been the first time she had awoken post torture session and mistook him for Dean, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Yeah I'm...I'm fine.." Jo mumbled and moved away, embarrassed and a little let down. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself Dean wasn't coming to get her, that bastards lies went so deep into her brain it was proving difficult to untangle them. She wasn't even sure if she knew what was a real memory in her head and what had been fabricated by this monster. Was her name really Joanna Beth Harvelle? Daughter of William and Ellen, demon hunter extrordinaire? Or was she Betty Louise something of east cupcake Illinois made to think she was this Jo Harvelle person? These were thoughts Jo had been plagued with a lot recently, she wasn't sure how to shut them off, or how to determine what was real and what wasn't. For all she knew, the tender moments with Dean in the back of her car were the reality and this whole captive to an insane monster parts were just a weird bi-product of a monster filled life. She moved further away from Charlie, closed her eyes and sighed at the thought. All she had to do was fall asleep in this dream world and she would wake up in his arms.

"I love you...."His voice echoed in her ears, his face began to form in her mind, rugged handsome features, his cocky yet adorable little grin.

"I know it's not something I would normally say and it's not something I am ready to shout across the rooftops..." he paused, then added "The having feelings part not the caring about you parts....anyway I just, I thought you should know that. This may have started out as some weird hormonal thing but...I don't know I'm...kinda new at this." He gives her another of his crooked handsome smiles and pulls her closer to his chest.

She pulled away from him, and grinned a grin of her own. "You want a pair of panties with that speech?" she asked him, giving him a light punch on the shoulder.

He stared up at her with confused eyes which only made her smile widen and grow more mischievous which he caught on to almost immediately. He grabbed her, tightly but not enough to hurt and pulled her back close to him, rolling her so she was under him and leaned in to kiss her. However, she pulled away and faked a struggled to get away from him, sparking a brief struggle between them which resulted in the both of them tumbling off of the cars seat and landing on the floor with her once again on top.

She smiled victoriously as he groaned painfully beneath her, bend almost in half the wrong way over the bump in the floor. She continued to grin as she bent down to kiss him passionately. "I love you too." she replied breathlessly

He looked up at her and smiled for a minute before his face contorted to a look of worry. "Jo?" he asks

She frowned and gave him a confused look of her own, not sure what she had missed that he hadn't.

"Jo are you all right?"

She blinked and was about to ask him why she wouldn't be all right but when she opened her eyes, Dean's face had once again vanished and been replaced with that of her cellmate Charlie.

"You really zoned out that time." he commented, worry all over his face "Are you all right?"

She inhaled sharply and nodded. "Yeah I just...lost control there for a minute I'm...fine I just need to..." she didn't finish, couldn't really finish when she wasn't sure what sure should be saying.

He nodded, knowing exactly how she was feeling without her needing to be verbal about it, and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. She jerked a little at his touch, and trembled slightly. He pulled away and swallowed, about to speak when the door burst open and two goons came in.

They headed for the two captives, shoving Charlie out of the way so they could grab Jo and drag her out of the room. She struggled, as she always did and the last thing she heard was the heavy metal door slam before her world once again went black, Dean's voice echoing in her mind.

"I love you."


	4. Chapter 4

She was so soft, so warm and comfortable in his arms. Her light breathing and softly beating heart the only noise in the room as he held onto her, his face buried in a mess of slightly matted and dirty blond hair, although that wasn't on his mind at all as her arms reached around his waist and held onto him tightly.

"I knew you would come..." she spoke her voice soft, low and slightly muffled by his chest

"Am I that predictable?" he asked

She pulled away from him, her dirt and died blood covered face breaking into a grin. That smile...so intoxicating, always pulled him in, made his heart melt and yet he had never told her that and at that moment, never understood why that was.

"Maybe a little." She replied, her smile faded slightly "But if it wasn't for that I..."

He shook his head, bringing a hand to her lips to stop her from finishing her sentence. "No." He said "Don't even go there Jo all right? I'm here, the demon is dead and you're safe, that's all that matters."

She smiled again and moved in a little closer to him which until that moment he had thought was next to impossible. "Guess that means I owe you one...." She said in a mischievous tone but before he could respond, she leaned up and kissed him, a kiss he gratefully returned and that lasted for quite a while.

Once they finally parted, he smiled his own intoxicating smile at her. "Maybe I should save you more often." He replied

It was her turn to shake her head not saying another word; she just leant up and kissed him once more.

"Jo..." he breathed

"Dean..." She replied, only her voice sounded different, deeper almost like....

"DEAN!" Sam yelled

Dean's eyes shot open to see....nothing. No Jo, no warm embrace just a blank wooden plank wall, and after turning his head, a very concerned looking Sam tied to a chair rather securely beside him.

"What the hell happened?" Dean demanded of his brother "Last thing I remember we were driving and there was a girl....then Ellen came out and...." He stopped, as he realized just what had gone on.

"She hit you first." Sam replied "Before either of us could react, got me when I was checking to make sure she hadn't killed you."

Dean tried to move within his restraints and found it no use. "Son of a bitch." He cursed "This is the thanks we get for trying to help her find Jo?" He looked down at his bindings and made a mental note about the tightness, and never to piss off Ellen for real. He looked back over at Sam "Any ideas?" he asked.

Sam shook his head. "She's not dumb Dean, she tied us up tight, keeps us away from each other and anything we could use to loosen or cut the ropes." He paused, took a breath, and then continued "She even took our pocket knives."

"Great so what you're saying is that we're stuck." Dean clarified "Ellen has gone insane and we are her prisoners...great." He sighed and muttered under his breath "At this rate, we're never going to find Jo."

A silence passed between the two brothers, and Dean closed his eyes, Jo's sweet face once again springing up in his mind. What the hell was that dream about? Why couldn't he get her out of his head? Why did it matter so much that he find her, save her? As he had pointed out earlier in his mind, she wasn't his blood, they had only met a few times, worked together twice and yet it had become priority one for him to find her and bring her back safe. And on top of that, now he was having dreams about rescuing her, holding her, kissing her....

"_I knew you would come...guess that means I owe you one...."_

Her voice echoed in his head, which caused him to shake it once more, trying to shoo them away. Did he have feelings for Jo? Is that what this all meant? He had always been attracted to her, come on he wasn't a complete idiot, Jo was attractive –very much so- and he had possibly on occasion thought about what it would be like to hit that, the thought of what Ellen would do to him if he did being the only thing stopping him from actually following through with it. Didn't stop him from thinking about it though, from the odd flirty comment here and there when Ellen wasn't around he wasn't dead after all and it wasn't like she didn't do it right back to him. He played it off around both Sam and Ellen, pretended she was nothing more to him than an annoying little sister type, but something was telling him now that he was very wrong about that now.

Or was this just his imagination getting the best of him? High stress job, being held captive and a friend missing...yeah that's all it was, manifestations in his head telling him that once this was all over, he needed some R&R, small bar, hot waitress with nice boobs and a pitcher of good beer....that was heaven.

"Good, you boys'r awake." Ellen's voice sounded out, pulling him out of his own head. He opened his eyes to see her standing in a doorway a few feet away. "Was startin' to think I hitcha a bit too hard."

She moved closer to them, and Dean watched as she wiped blood from her hand with a dirty rag.

"What's the deal here Ellen?" he asked "Please let it end with you being possessed..."

Ellen shook her head. "Not possessed, least not by any demon." She replied "Possessed by something greater maybe, with the need to find my daughter and bring her back alive."

"We want the same thing." Sam said, jumping into the conversation "Bobby told us what happened, we came to help you."

She nodded in reply, then added "I figured as much. Bobby never did know how to keep his big yap shut when it came to private matters."

"You can't do this alone Ellen...." Sam replied "You shouldn't have to."

"So why not cut us loose huh?" Dean asked, jumping back into the conversation "We can compare notes and get back out there, bring Jo home."

"Sounds good." Ellen replied "But you're gonna haveta hold off a little while."

"Why?" Dean asked "What are you getting out of this? If you're pissed we came to help why not punish us after we get Jo back?"

Ellen sighed. "I'm not mad you came to help Dean, fact as much as I hate to admit it, I really could use you boy's help in this." She looked down at her hands, and the bloody cloth, then back up at the boys, then continued. "But right now I have the only person who knows where Jo is in the other room and I am gonna do everything I can to get her to share that information with me. Can't have you boy's stepping in and stopping me now can I?"

"But she's a human, an innocent." Sam said "What could she possibly know?"

"She knows plenty." Ellen snapped back "And human she may be, but she's nowhere near innocent. Been helping that monster for god knows how long, knows what he's doing there, to those poor people...to my Jo."

"Him?" Dean asks "You know what it is that has Jo?"

Ellen nods "I have my suspicions, and this woman is the only one who can confirm it. Best you boys stay out of the way, keep your own conscience's clear." She turned and headed out; stooping as she reached the door "I'll be back in a little while with food and the like for you both." She added, and then left the room.

"No Ellen wait!" Sam called after her, to no avail.

"Let it go Sammy." Dean replied, leaning back against his chair and closing his eyes. "No use even trying to reason with her, doubt anything we say or do will change her mind."

"There's got to be something." Sam argued "We can't just sit here while she does god knows what to that woman out there."

Dean opened his eyes and turned to his brother with a steely gaze. "Common Sammy think about it, Ellen on a normal ay is next to impossible to reason with once she's made up her mind do you really think we could reason with a half crazed, worried sick about her daughter Ellen?" He shook his head "Don't think so little brother."

Sam didn't reply, making Dean reason that his brother had realized he was right. Best they could do right now was sit there patiently until Ellen got what she wanted, or the girl died and just hope that it would be done soon. Dean once again leaned his head back and shut his eyes, trying not to imagine what Ellen may be doing to that poor girl in the other room.


	5. Chapter 5

"I love you Jo..." his strong voice whispered into the darkness, voice slightly strained though Jo knew he wasn't complaining.

"You love me huh?" she asked him as he squirmed below her.

"Oh hell yes..." he replied as he sucked in a deep breath to keep his composure.

"Mmmm." She purred "Call the papers, the big bad Dean Winchester has lost his heart to a woman." She bent down and kissed him softly, then added "Stop the presses."

"I think almost everything is digital now." He replied, the gruffness returning to his voice a little "No presses to stop."

She smiled and kissed him again as she kept him pinned below her. "Guess I will have to get myself one of those social networking sites, the people deserve to know."

"Is that right?" he asked, a smirk appearing on his handsome face "Whatever happened to word of mouth? I was under the impression that how hunter's work...."

"Usually..." she replied as she leaned down closer to him once more "Only my mouth is a little busy at the moment..." she kissed him again, a kiss which he eagerly returned.

When their lips parted, he chuckled slightly and she frowned down at him. "What's so funny?" she asked

"Nothing." He replied with a shake of his head "Just never thought I'd have this, any of this it's a little trippy you know? I mean, I never even considered the possibility that I would spend more than one night with a chick let alone fall for one. It's a little surreal; especially considering the one I ended up falling for was you."

She frowned down at him and cocked her head to the side, raising her eyebrows in curiosity "And what's so wrong with me?" she asked, slipping in a (fake) angry tone "You'd rather have one of your random slutbag damsels in distress?"

He laughed again and shook his head. "Not in a million years." He replied, amusement in his voice. He leaned up and kissed her passionately, then took a hold of her and without warning, flipped them both so she was now under him. "Though your pinning could use some work."

She grinned up at him and without a word, kicked his legs off of her with enough force to catch him off balance and send him tumbling to the floor, quickly following him with a roll and once landed, she once again had him pinned. She continued to grin –this time down at him- "What was that you were saying?" she asked innocently.

"That friggen hurt!" he said with a frown as he struggled below her to no effect.

"Maybe." She replied as she leaned down closer to him "But you loved every minute of it."

He grinned again "I love you."

Suddenly, there was a blinding white flash, Jo cried out and grabbed on to Dean but it was too late. The dimly lit room of her tormenter appeared, and she heard him cackling above her.

"A pleasure as always Miss Harvelle." He purred into her ear "Until tomorrow..." He motioned for his goons to take her and as they dragged her back to her cell, she was barely coherent, barely able to process where she was. These 'sessions' had been taking more and more out of her every time she did them, she barely had the strength to stand anymore let alone make any escape attempts.

The goons opened the cell door and actually took her inside, setting her down gently on the floor....no, it was too soft to be a floor....where was she? She opened her eyes, but instead of seeing the cold dark walls of the cell, she saw the darkened shadow of what looked like....a bedroom?

One of the goons chuckled as he noticed her looking around. "You're the favourite now little girl." He said "Only the best for his favourites." He headed for the door with his buddy in tow, stopping before the door was closed fully to add "Enjoy your night." Then the door closed and she was alone.

It took her a while to get resituated -longer than usual- get back into her own head, back to a place where she could once again comprehend all that was going on. Once she was able, she sat up in the bed and examined her new living space more thoroughly. There were no lights, no tables or furniture of any kind except for the bed and a small window, barred of course. She sighed favourite or not, she was still a prisoner and he was too careful to leave her any opening to escape with.

"_I love you..."_

Dean's voice rang in her ears and caused her to close her eyes and take a deep breath. It was getting harder and harder to shake the things that monster would show her and with little to no break for her to regain complete composure over her own brain, the nightly adventures of her and 'dream' Dean had become the only thing she could think or dream about, reliving those moments over and over...

She cried out into the darkness of the room, swinging her fists and feet at her new bed furiously with no purpose other than to take her mind off, get some of the hopelessness and frustration out of her. Unfortunately, her little temper tantrum didn't even manage to do that for her so, with one last pounding of her feet against the mattress, Jo stopped, and dropped back down on the mattress. As her body made contact with the mattress, she heard a small metal clang against the floor. She frowned and stuck her head over the edge of the bed to see a small metal spring now resting on the floor beneath her bed. She picked it up and moved back into a seated position on the bed, examining it and reasoning that it must have come loose from the bed during her mini tantrum. She stared at it for several minutes, trying to think what she could do with it to help in her escape, but everything she came up with fell flat. She didn't have the strength to pull any of it off. Defeated, she fell back onto the bed and started at the dark ceiling.

"_You'd rather have one of your random slutbag damsels in distress?"_

"_Not in a million years."_

She squeezed her eyes shut again and clenched her fists, the spring poking into her hand slightly.

"_I love you Jo..."_

She squeezed her hands tighter, pain sprung from the one gripping the spring and her mind began to focus on that instead of her 'dreams' She raised her now bleeding hand and opens her palm to examine the wound. It wasn't very big or life threatening, superficial at best and as the pain began to fade away, she felt her most recent 'dream' begin to return to her thoughts.

No, she wasn't going to let this happen she couldn't get sucked in again, wouldn't be the favourite...if pain was the only way to end this, then she had to make herself feel pain.

She brings the sharp end of the spring up to her arm and takes a deep breath, biting her lip as she pushes it into her skin. Tears began to form in her eyes as she began to drag it down the length of her arm blood flowing freely now. She managed to get all the way to the bend on the underside of her elbow before her hand began to shake and her eyes began to droop. She was tired; the loss of blood on top of the events of the past few, however long she had been in this hellhole had drained her of her energy. The spring falls from her grasp, slipping through her bloodied fingers and dropping to the floor with a soft clang.

Jo's eyes closed slowly, and for a minute, she wondered where he was, and hoped that he would be there for her mother; she was going to need someone else to keep her grounded now...


	6. Chapter 6

The Winchester brother's had spent what felt like days locked in the back room of Ellen's cabin-o-pain before she returned and cut them loose, offering them pizza and Beer as a cheap bribe. As they ate, Sam and Dean remained silent, neither of them wanting to ask Ellen what had become of the girl she had been holding captive both of them knowing the answer already.

"I know where she is." Ellen spoke suddenly, breaking the silence in the room.

Dean perks up immediately as he dropped the pizza slice he held in his hands and brushed them together to get rid of any crumbs. "So why are we still sitting here?" he asked as he rose to his feet. "You can tell us what we are dealing with on the way; we will come up with a plan and get her out of there."

Ellen nodded and rose quickly. "Works for me." She replied

Sam stood as well and shook his head, holding his arms up to stop them both. "Sure let's do that because I liked being held captive so much I want to do it again." his words were dripping with sarcasm, and he let them sink in for a few moments, looking between Ellen and Dean with disapproval in his features. "We need to stop, think this through and come up with something better than charging in guns blazing otherwise we are going to wind up captured right along with Jo, if not worse." He quickly glanced between Dean and Ellen again before continuing "You both know I'm right."

Dean relaxed slightly and sank back into his chair Sam was right if they wanted to save her they had to think this through. Guy had to be crafty to pick up Jo and keep her held for this long, brute force was not going to be helpful for them here. Jo's smiling face came into his mind again, and his thoughts turned from torture and heroism to her. His heart began to beat a little faster as he remembered how they had first met, how she had handled herself and her gun like a pro and completely pwned him in the process. He remembered his second trip the roadhouse where Jo put on that god awful hair band song, and for some reason got it stuck in his head for weeks later. He inhaled sharply as the thought sprang into his head that if they didn't work all this out, those memories would be all he had of her, and the mere thought of that plus a few other short meet-ups being all he ever had with Jo made his quick beating heart feel like someone had stuck a knife in it and was twisting away carelessly. He swallowed and turned his attention back to Ellen and Sam, hoping that they could come up with some kind of plan soon so he could once again have control over his own brain and body functions.

He was about to ask Sam if he had any brilliant ideas when he noticed a look he never thought he would see Ellen make. Her eyes were wide and frightened, her mouth drooped open and Dean barely made it to her side before her legs wobbled out beneath her. Dean got her back sitting in her chair, and found himself wondering if the captive got a lucky swipe in earlier, if everything that had happened recently had finally settled in, and if so, had they had just lost Ellen completely?

"Ellen." Dean said in a stern voice, hands on her shoulders he shook her lightly in an attempt to get her to snap out of whatever trance she seemed to be stuck in -to no avail. Dean looked around and noted Sam was missing, but before he could call out to his brother, Sam re-appeared with a glass of water which he brought over to Ellen, who made no move to drink.

"Ellen." Dean repeated the woman's name a little louder and sterner now. "Ellen what's wrong? Snap out of it!" he shook her again, a little harder this time and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it?" Sam asked softly as he knelt beside the woman and gently put a hand on her arm. "We can do this Ellen, if it's too much, Dean and I can handle it...."

"Jo..." Ellen managed to choke out through her newfound sobs tears streaked down her cheeks now.

"We'll get her back." Dean said a hand on her back now in an attempt to reassure her. "We will bring her home safe..."

Ellen shook her head and inhaled sharply as more tears fell. "Something's ...wrong..." she said weakly as she got control of the sobs. The boys both regarded her oddly, neither one of them understand what she meant, or why all of a sudden she had lost her determination, other than if the whole thing had finally just settled in all at once but before either of them could question her, she inhaled again and continued. "I just...I can feel it, something is wrong Jo is....." she trailed off and bit her lip to keep another round of sobs at bay. "I think she's dead..." she finished before succumbing to another round of sobs.

Dean and Sam exchanged a look of confusion and panic before Dean nodded silently to his brother and knelt down next to Ellen. He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to a small bed in the corner of the room and laid her down gently as she continued to blubber on about Jo, Dean only able to understand bits and pieces of it.

Once he was sure she was at least slightly settled, Dean rose and looked back at Sam as he walked back over to his brother and grabbed his arm, pulling him aside so Ellen couldn't hear them. "Any ideas?" he asked, his voice a hushed whisper.

Sam had his thinking face on, which usually meant he had some kind of idea and that comforted Dean greatly. After a few minutes of watching Sam bite his lip and glance back at Ellen nervously, Sam finally spoke. "Sometimes, when a bond between two people is strong enough they say that you can just tell when the other is hurt or..." he glanced back at Ellen and swallowed, unable to finish his sentence.

Dean frowned and looked from Sam to Ellen and back to his brother once more. "I thought that was just like...a creepy twin thing?" He asked, not sure if he understood what Sam was getting at.

Sam shook his head "Nah man it can happen to anyone, it's even been reported between pet owners and their pets."

"So people can tell when Fluffy is chocking on a bone from across town?" Dean scoffed

Sam inhaled sharply and shook his head again. "No Dean you're..." he trailed off and took another breath before continuing. "Just think about it all right? Ellen raised Jo on her own after losing Bill, watched over her kept her safe did all she could to keep her out of the life that took her husband from her. After all they have been through together, how can you say they are not connected on a deeper level?"

"So if I was to go in the other room and get stabbed, you'd jump up in here and just 'know' I was hurt?" Dean asked "We've been through a lot together too Sammy, you saying we have the weird 'connection' too?"

Sam shrugged "I don't know...maybe."

It was Dean's turn to inhale sharply and nod as he glanced back at Ellen lying broken and sobbing on the bed. "So what does this mean?" he asked, eyes still fixed on Ellen's crumpled form "That Jo's dead and now we can pretty much count Ellen out on any strategy to put this asshole in the ground for good?" He looked back at Sam, eyes angry searching his brother's eyes for an answer he knew Sam didn't have. He didn't want to believe in any of this, that Jo was gone for good, that Ellen would be a basket case forever. Part of him was still hoping that this was some crazy dream, that Jo was alive safe and well at the Roadhouse under her non-mentally broken down mother's thumb, that he would wake up in some dingy roadside hotel and Sam would laugh at him for having such a stupid dream.

Yeah any minute now he was going to wake up....any minute....


End file.
